This study aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of early maladaptive schemas in the relationship between perceived parenting patterns (from both mother and father) and the social anxiety levels of university students. A cross-sectional research design was employed, involving 419 university students (60.4% female) who were selected through face-to-face interviews from six different universities. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form 3 (YSQ-SF3), and Young Parenting Inventory (YPI) were employed for data collection. The results demonstrated that the perceived negative parenting patterns of mothers significantly predicted higher levels of social anxiety in students. Importantly, the ‘impaired autonomy’ domain of early maladaptive schemas was identified as a key mediator in this relationship, indicating that maternal parenting patterns contribute to increased social anxiety primarily through the development of impaired autonomy schemas. In contrast, no significant effect of perceived paternal parenting patterns on social anxiety levels was observed. These findings underscore the critical role of maternal influence in the development of social anxiety and highlight the importance of targeting early maladaptive schemas in therapeutic interventions. The results contribute to the understanding of how early parental influences shape mental health outcomes, with implications for both clinical practice and future research.